Public Sector IT Spending in Asia/Pacific Driven by eGoverment and Cross Agency Initiatives, says IDC

June 27, 2006

Singapore and Hong Kong, June 27, 2006 – The drive for eGovernment, operational efficiency and the pressure to build an Information Communication Technology (ICT) savvy nation is driving strong growth in IT spending for the public sector in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region. Global economic pressures have also required governments to evaluate and refresh their national ICT plan so as to remain competitive and relevant. In-depth findings are published in the IDC report, Asia /Pacific (Excluding Japan) Public Sector IT Spending 2006-2010 Forecast (Doc# AP633104N).

The public sector continues to be one of the largest IT spending vertical in the region. IDC predicts a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% from 2006-2010 with expenditure to reach US$31.67 billion by 2010.

"Emerging economies like the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India will be huge drivers of IT spending as they build up their ICT infrastructure, whereas mature economies — while showing moderate growth — will be moving up in ICT sophistication," says Victor Lim, Vice President for Business Development, Verticals, IDC Asia/Pacific. “An example of such sophistication is the increased focus on government-to-public interaction and government-to-industry collaborative efforts, driving IT initiatives and service rollout, especially in the education and healthcare sectors.”

China which is lagging behind the mature economies in the adoption of ICT, will see dramatic growth as they catch-up with the rest of the region. Fueled by a booming economy, government policies are driving the consolidation and leveraging of ICT to improve its operations and services to the public. China, with the largest public sector market at $6.5 billion in 2006, is expected to almost double by 2010 to $11.7 billion. India and emerging economies like Vietnam will see CAGR of over 16% as they attempt to accelerate the modernization of their government and the learning curve of the economy.

While public entities’ IT expenditures in mature economies such as Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan will level off to between 3-5% over the forecast period, the advances they have made will ensure their continued dominance in public sector initiatives and solidify their organizations as best-practices, inspiring other regional public sector organizations.

Notes to Editor

Economies covered in the IDC APEJ Government Research Programs are Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and in the rest of Asia Pacific.

For more information about purchasing the research, please contact Selina Ang at +65-6228-7717 or sang@idc.com. For press enquiries, please contact Eileen Tan at +65-228-7775 or etan@idc.com.

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